Participating in my 1st Duathlon!

[steinbachphoto]

Hi there, so I'm participating in my first duathlon this summer and I'm starting a new strength focused workout regime however I'm wondering how much running and biking I should be doing along with my workout.

I ride to and from my college everyday as well(not a long ride, only about 6km) and lift weights 4x a week.

Unfortunately where I live there isn't much for races and I believe this is the only one coming up this summer.

the race is August 1st so I have lots of time to get prepared.

So any fitness suggestions or just any duathlon suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

 

[daveryanwyoming]

Originally Posted by steinbachphoto . I'm wondering how much running and biking I should be doing along with my workout....

Seems to me you're looking at this backwards. The question should be how much (if any) strength training will help the two activities involved in your event....running and biking.

I'd definitely want to train those two activities at least five times per week working up to perhaps 45 to 60 minutes for the running days and two to three times that on the cycling days. Then and only then would I consider what extra benefit the strength training might or might not bring to your fitness.

I'm pretty sure there aren't a lot of power lifters or body builders out there that base their strength training goals on cycling or running before structuring their weight room workouts but for some reason a lot of endurance athletes seem to think time in the weight room is a better use of training time than time spent training their primary sports. The training principle of specificity suggests otherwise...

Good luck,
-Dave